Fixture

Tylorstown RFC | 1st Team 19 - 38 Cowbridge RFC | 1st Team

Match Report
17 May 2019 / Team News

Impressive Bonus Point Away At Tylorstown

Last Saturday, Cowbridge travelled to Rhondda Fach to take on Tylorstown, in a return fixture, with Tylorstown narrowly losing the week before by just 2 points. They had good reason to be confident .
 
Before the match there was a minute's silent in memory of Don Jones who played for Tylorstown in the 60s. The game started with a kick that went deep into the Cowbridge 22 where the the ball was not secured  but from the resulting scrum Cowbridge managed to get the ball away and relieve the pressure. 8 mins in there it took a great tackle by centre Sam Stephens to bring down their number 13 in what looked to be a promising Tylorstown attack. Just minutes later as Cowbridge worked the ball to the left , with full back Huw Lougher in the line , his pass to wing Rhydian Williams took Rhydian outside of the opposing winger, but his kick went too deep. A minute or two later, a great burst up the middle by centre Sam Stephens was taken on by captain Ross Gibbon, but the final pass to prop Dai Popham in support wasn't held . Just past the mid point another Tylorstown attack was this time brought to a stop by a last ditch tackle by number 8 James Bennett. this resulted in their inside centre needing prolonged treatment , but it also resulted in second row  Sam Richards leaving the field with a knee injury from play before that that.  Richards was replaced by James Holder. With play in the Cowbridge 22 and from a scrum, Tylorstown edged forward, their scrum half picked up and dabbed it down for a try converted by their number 13. There followed more driving play taken on initially by Hywel Williams at scrum half and then hooker Craig Boxall, before the ball was moved to the left and outside half Tom James lovely pass went to James Bennett in the line and he put away Rhydian to go outside his opposing wing and then cut back inside to touch down under the post for a try that wing Adam Dix converted to even the scores. Moments later Dix was involved in a good run up the right wing taken on by centre Ash Thomas which took play into the Tylorstown 25. James Bennett took a quick penalty, moved it onto Boxall but he wasn't quite able to ground the ball. That resulted in a scrum, but in stopping that play Tylorstown's flanker had hit out and received a yellow card for his troubles. Minutes later, an excellent line out take by Gibbon resulted in a drive to the line, the ball was slipped to Boxall to crash over for a terrific try. Dix produced an excellent conversion wide out  With minutes to go to half time, a deep kick from Lougher from full back was run back by Tylorstown number 14, but a heavy tackle by flanker Tom Evans, dislodged the ball from his hands and Bennett, who moments earlier had been on the floor with an injury, picked up and ran in to score on the left hand side of the field.  Again, another excelled conversion from Dix. The half ended with another cracking Tom Evans tackle, on Tylorstowns loose head prop, bringing a half time score of 7-21. 
 
Early into the second half, drives taken on by Gibbon and then on to Dan Holder and Sam Stephens resulted in Hywel moving play to the left where a mismatch saw brother Rhydian skip past Tylorstown's prop and over in the left hand corner. Dix's conversion went just wide. Minutes later, more driving play down the blind side wing, taken on by Dan Holder and then by Tom Evans who had white line fever  but was stopped just 3 meters out. Another break by Hywel this time onto James Holder but he couldn't quite hold onto the ball as the line beckoned. A break in play saw Dai Popham coming to the touch line after an all action 50 minutes and George Thomas replacement race on. 5 minutes after that, after terrific performances, Tom Evans was replaced by Reuben Tucker, back from injury, and Sam Stephens by Ryan Hall.  Tylorstown were next on the score board, when from a scrum in Cowbridge's 22 the ball was picked up but seemed to have been knocked on by their substitute in the back row before he scrambled over in the corner for a converted try  to bring a score of 14-26. 
From the kick off, Tylorstown dropped the ball and Tucker picked up and drove for the line. The ball came back, however there was an infringement by Tylorstown, a quick tap penalty was taken by James Holder and he crashed over for his first try of the afternoon, which went unconverted. Wing  Will Williams came on for the last 18 min with lively Adam Dix making way.  Just to show that he was back in prime form after his injury, Tucker went on 15 metre charge, there was a scrum and another charge by Ryan Hall nearly got him over the line. But, from the resulting scrum, Tucker picked up at the back moved infield and then reversed his pass behind himself into the hands of Ryan Hall, who crashed through under the posts for a try that Hywel converted to make the score 14-38. Tylorstown had the last word, a penalty was taken forward by their captain and second row, although there was some question that he had dropped the ball after and excellent tackle by Boxall but the referee awarded the try from which there was also a conversion bringing a final score of 21-38 and the all important bonus point win. 
 
This was a terrific performance by the team, Tylorstown proved very tough opposition over both matches. The bonus point was absolutely crucial in the race for the top 2 spots. All of the players were superb , but perhaps special mention should made of Hywel Williams who made any number of breaks , and Reuben Tucker returning from what was a very nasty injury . Tom James at outside half again showed his versatility , his distribution and all round eye for a gap, kept Cowbridge on the front foot for most, if not all of the game. 
 
Next week, Cowbridge travel away to Pentyrch in what is another must win fixture, in fact all of the games the remaining games are, in order to keep the pressure on at the top of the table. There was terrific support again up in Tylorstown, in a very picturesque setting with across the valley the Llanwonno Summit making a spectacular backdrop. 
 
Many thanks RV/RK 
Players Fixture player info not published.
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